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Online, October 4, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Gunmen attacked a NATO fuel tanker convoy in Pakistan overnight, killing at least three people and wounding seven others, witnesses said Monday.

More than 20 tankers caught fire, producing flames and smoke that could be seen for miles and took hours for firefighters to bring under control, the Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported.

The tankers were carrying fuel for U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan.

Witnesses said the gunmen opened fire on the vehicles in a compound owned by Taj Afridi, a NATO supply contractor.

The attack came a few days after the Pakistani government had shut down a border crossing to NATO convoys in protest of the killing of three Pakistani soldiers by NATO forces chasing insurgents who operate in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area.

24-hour strike idles London underground

LONDON, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Transit unions shut down London's subway system with a 24-hour strike Sunday night.

Millions of passengers will have their Monday morning rush hour disrupted after thousands of workers of the Rail Maritime and Transport union and Transport Salaried Staffs Association walked out to protest 800 job cutbacks, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

The strike follows one in September by the unions, and they plan two more in November.

The RMT and TSSA will picket tube stations across the city during the strike, which will continue until Monday evening.

To cope, Transport for London is fielding more than 100 extra buses, increasing capacity for more than 10,000 more journeys on the River Thames, marshaling taxis, and delaying or curtailing scheduled road repairs. People with bikes are being encouraged to cycle to work.

TfL said London Underground ran a third of its normal services during the last walkout, carrying more than a million people.

Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT, said London Underground could put passengers' safety at risk by using under-trained staff during the strike.

"The RMT are, once again, scaremongering," a TfL spokesman said.

Ahmadinejad again charges U.S. 9/11 plot

TEHRAN, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad again called for a new investigation of the Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. attacks, offering to track down the "rogue" perpetrators.

The United States should respond to hundreds of questions still unanswered about the terrorist attacks, Ahmadinejad told his government's Press TV service Sunday.

He charged the United States used the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as a pretext to "attack our region," which it aims to plunder and dominate.

The president urged the United States to identify and execute the "rogue elements" responsible and declared, "We are ready to help Washington arrest them if it supplies us with the evidence."

The American and other delegations walked out of the U.N. General Assembly Sept. 22 when Ahmadinejad gave a speech saying a "very powerful and complex terrorist group, able to successfully cross all layers of the American intelligence and security, carried out the attack."

Terror alert spurs Europe military curfew

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Terrorism fears moved the U.S. Air Force to keep thousands of service members in Germany under curfew Friday night, military documents showed Sunday.

The order -- signed by Brig. Gen. Mark Dillion, head of the 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein Air Base -- was issued Thursday to all Air Force personnel at Ramstein and nearby housing areas for the Air Force and Army. It was obtained by CNN.

The curfew extended from 11 p.m. Friday night until 5 a.m. Saturday morning. It came before the U.S. State Department issued a travel alert Sunday for U.S. citizens in Europe, based on intelligence indicating that al-Qaida and allies are plotting terrorist attacks.

A U.S. military official confirmed to CNN Sunday that Thursday's order was carried out.

The official and other U.S. military sources in Europe confirmed to CNN that security measures have been altered, temporarily in some cases, at several installations across Europe.

The security measures are expected to be randomly increased and then potentially lifted over the coming weeks. The officials said they were not aware of a specific imminent threat at the time of the curfew.